Men, friendship and companionship in Divine Comedy Essay

Men, friendship and companionship in presage frivolity - Essay ExampleHe ends his pilgrimage into vision of the Love which moves the sun and the other stars. (Michael Novak 2003) The dual emblem of Commedia is the progress of soul toward Heaven, and the anguish of humankind on Earth. Throughout his journey, Dantes relationship with Virgil becomes more distinct as does that of the other characters who occupy the realm.In much of Dantes work, he turns the people who he was directly or indirectly associated with in real demeanor into characters in his work. His feelings towards them can just be understood when observing the interactions among himself and the characters. To understand how these real life characters came to be involved in his grand poem, a little of Dantes floor must be explained.Living in Florence, Dante was active in both political and military life. As a youth he entered the army and held several key posts in the Florence government during the 1290s. At this m eter Florence was politically divided between Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Guelphs supported the church and were conservative, preferring to keep things as they were. The Ghibellines on the other pass on supported the German emperor but were relieved of their governance. During this time, the Guelphs whom Dantes family was associated with took the reigns of power. Though born into a Guelph family, Dante believed the church should only involve itself in spiritual affairs and later in life he became more unbiased after realizing that the church was corrupt. When the new century dawned, Dante gained position from city councilman to ambassador of Florence. In 1301 when the Black Guelph and their cut allies seized control of the city his career ended. The authorities seized Dantes possessions and permanently banished him from Florence, threatening the death penalty upon him if he returned. From this sprang some of his misgivings about those in high positions and used their characteris tics and sins in his work. It is during his exile that Dante wrote new pieces of literature. Between 1307 and 1314 he began writing The Divine Comedy where Dante introduces his invention of the three-line stanza as well as himself as a character. Dantes epic poem consists of three parts, The Inferno being the first. It depicts the journey of Dante, who himself is the hero, through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. He writes in the first soulfulness enabling the reader to identify and understand deeply the truths he wished to share about the meaning of life and mans relationship with the Creator. Dantes vision stems from personal experience and expresses them through images to convey his analysis of the nature of human existence. In the poem, Dante is around about the halfway point through his life and he finds himself wandering alone in a dark forest, having bewildered his way on the true path (Spark Notes 2006). In the first lines of the Divine Comedy, Dante says In the middle of th e journey of our life I came to my senses in a dark forest, for I had lost the straight path. (123Helpme 2005) This is the typical stereotype of today for when a person becomes lost or consumed in sin. The vicious life is a dark life and a sinless life is a bright, white, and pure life. Dantes climax to his senses in a dark forest symbolizes his realizing how lost in sin he truly is and realizes he needs to do something. He remembers nothing about how he lost his way, but here he is in a fearful dark place. Above, he notices a